The Green politician Anton Hofreiter has warned of a new system of competition between democratic states and autocracies, which could lead to the formation of new blocs.

"The most brutal and terrible expression of this is the Russian attack on Ukraine, but that is by no means the only one," said Hofreiter on Monday at the start of the "European Economic Conference" entitled "The Future of Europe", which the FAZ jointly published organized with the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT).

Corinna Budras

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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Hofreiter, chairman of the Bundestag's European Union Affairs Committee, recalled the threats China regularly poses to Taiwan.

Unlike during the Cold War, this new formation of blocs is taking place at a completely different level of interdependence.

To describe the intensity of global cooperation, the Green politician resorted to a drastic description of the German business model: "We bought raw materials in a dictatorship," he said.

And processed them with great engineering into products that we sold in another dictatorship, namely in China.” That is not a sustainable business model.

Leading role required for Germany

If you see the shock waves that the Ukraine war sent to the German economy, you can imagine the impact on the supply chains of China's attempt to forcibly reintegrate Taiwan into its territory.

One of his main concerns is that Germany is no longer able to adequately deal with all crises at the same time.

He referred to the climate crisis, which left deep scars this summer with the drought.

"One crisis doesn't go away because another crisis is more pressing."

Hofreiter admitted that significant mistakes had been made in energy policy in the past.

He couldn't except himself in the opposition.

Although the principle of “change through trade” was well intentioned, it led to the West being far too naïve in its dealings with autocracies.

He demanded that Germany must assume a leading role in Europe.

"We in Germany must finally learn to deal with our size as adults," said Hofreiter.

That does not mean a "Germany-first" policy.

Instead, Germany must act as the "custodian and organizer" of common European interests.

This is important when it comes to jointly buying natural gas on the world market, supporting Ukraine - also with further arms deliveries - or managing the European expansion process, in which Germany has a geostrategic interest.

Like Green Party leader Ricarda Lang, he called for a “temporary” cap on gas and electricity prices to get the current energy crisis under control.

According to the FAZ editor Gerald Braunberger, the two-day conference in Berlin, at which numerous politicians, business representatives and economists will be speaking alongside Hofreiter, is about finding solutions to the many crises in the world.

He quoted Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of the European Union: "Europe will be forged in crises and it will be the sum of the solutions adopted in these crises."

Braunberger warned that Europe is currently experiencing a significant loss of prosperity.

"Inflation and recession form an unholy alliance," he said.

In addition to the economic crises, there would also be political conflicts that could come to Europe, for example as a result of the clear electoral success of the center-right camp in Italy.

ESMT President Jörg Rocholl added that, in addition to the climate crisis, the dangers to biodiversity also made rapid action necessary.